Taxes are as ingrained in the automotive sector as any other.
From sales tax to fuel tax and so on, there is simply no avoiding taxes when you own a car. The state of Illinois is now looking to add another way to tax drivers, this time with a mileage-based road usage charge that has built-in privacy protections. Sounds fishy.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of proposed legislation that would tax drivers based on how many miles they drive, but it doesn’t make us feel any better about it. With so many existing taxes—including those built-in examples like gas and also highway use in the form of tolls—it’s not really like anyone needs another way for the government to get into their pocket. You’re able to drive to your heart’s content so long as you can pay for the fuel.
Thanks to Senator Ram Villivalam, the Illinois government is looking for another way to make you pay for it. Senate Bill 1938 is called the Illinois Road Usage Charge Act, it seeks to find out whether drivers should be taxed, based on how many miles they drive.
Knowing how many miles you drive is the big question at hand. Between GPS and factory-installed electronics, there are already plenty of ways for the government to track your mileage. But for older cars or those who have opted out of such services, odometer reporting might be the way of going about things. It all sounds bad.
There is a part of the bill that says the state would collect the least amount of personal information possible, for whatever that’s worth. Do you really trust the government to do the right thing?
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In addition to Bill 1938, there’s also Senate Bill 3566. This one is of a very different nature, instead looking at electric vehicles (EVs) and the owners behind them. 3566 would offer EV drivers the option to pay 1.5 cents per mile driven annually (capped at $320), or a single-pay $320 payment.
Whether either of these bills will make it any further is anyone’s guess, but we can’t say we’re confident in either becoming reality.
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